Heidelberg Catechism Devotional Q2

Q.2. What must you know
to live and die in the joy of this comfort?

A. Three things:


first, how great my sin and misery are;


second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery;


third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance.

Monday

How great is our sin?  Greater than we can ever imagine.  Our sin is worse than the most horrible thing we can imagine.  It is worse than killing a person.  It is worse than killing 100 people.  It is worse than assaulting your grandparents or stealing from your mother.  It is horrible, that is why God compares rebellion to sorcery and arrogance to idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23).  It is why Joseph considers a sin against his master, really as a sin against God.  Read Genesis 39:1-9.  All sin, no matter how innocent, no matter how private, or benign is an affront to God.  All sin challenges God’s authority and his plans for holy and righteous living.

Tuesday

Where does our sin begin?  It begins in failing to recognize God as the creator of the heavens and creator of the earth.  Every sin begins in failing to recognize and honor God as the creator of life.  Read Romans 1:18-32.  All sin is traced by to a denial of God as God.  When we talk about others, we are denying God’s rule and creative power at work in them.  When we want what others have and pursue it at all costs, we deny that the God who created us will provide us with all we need.  When we disobey our parents, we are denying that God instills all authorities in order to guide us and direct us.  Our sin is great.

Wednesday

Since our sin is so great, is there any hope for being released from God’s wrath.  Can we avoid the wrath that God says is coming on all who refuse to acknowledge him?  The answer is yes.  We can be set free not only from our sin, but also from it’s control of our life.  Jesus Christ is the only one who can free us from sin and sin’s control.  Jesus is the solution to our sin, and not just our sin, but the sin of every individual who has ever lived, is currently living and will live in the future.  Read Romans 3:23-25a and Acts 10:43.

Thursday

In the Old Testament, sin was removed by the sacrifice of an animal, normally a lamb, goat or bull. Read Leviticus 17:11.  But the blood of animals can’t atone for our sin.  Quite the opposite, trusting in animal sacrifices to make amends for our sin is to fail to recognize the gravity of the offense before God.  Read Hebrews 10:4.  But now, since Jesus died on the cross, all sin is forgiven by his sacrifice.  And when we trust that Jesus is the Lamb of God, then we are saved.  Read Romans 3:25 and John 1:29.

Friday

When someone is given a present they don’t deserve, how should they respond?  By saying thank you.  The words thank you are the way we express gratitude for someone else’s actions.  Thanks open our eyes to the good things we are experiencing, and when we see all the good we have and recognize that it comes from God, then we are defeating the cycle that started all our sin.  Read Psalm 50:23.  This is a profound statement that thanksgiving is the greatest way to honor God.  What are you thankful for?

Saturday

While our words are wonderful, our actions can express thanks to God too.  After being helped one day, I said thank you to the stranger.  He responded, “The greatest thanks you can give me is by helping the next person in need.”  What he was saying is, “You can thank me by acting like me in the future.”  This is the same in the Christian life.  We can thank God for setting us free from our sin by mimicking the life of Christ.  Jesus summed this up when he taught his disciples to copy his life of service as he washed their feet.  Read John 13:1-15 and 1 Corinthians 11:1.  Why would copying Jesus be a way of living thankfully before God?